Pulmonary mycobiome of patients with suspicion of respiratory fungal infection – an exploratory study

Objective: This pilot study aimed to characterize the pulmonary mycobiome of patients with suspicion of fungal infection of the respiratory tract as well as to identify potentially pathogenic fungi colonizing/infecting their lungs. Methods: A cohort of 10 patients was analyzed, including HIV+ patients and patients with active infection caused by Mycobacterium species. Their respiratory samples (bronchoalveolar lavage fluid/ bronchial secretions) were pre-treated with lyticase and proteinase K; DNA was extracted using the High Pure PCR Template Preparation kit following the manufacturer’s instructions. The internal transcribed spacer region 1 (ITS1) and calmodulin gene were amplified by PCR and the resulting amplicons were sequenced using the Illumina MiSeq platform with pair-end reads of 150 bp. The obtained results were analyzed using the PIPITS pipeline as described by Gweon et al. [1]. Operational taxonomic units (OTU) to which less than 0.1% of the total reads attributed were disregarded. Results: Thirty-seven different OTU were identified from which two belonged to the Plantae kingdom, 11 had less than the 0.1% threshold of the total reads and were therefore disregarded. The remaining 24 different OTU (grouped in 17 phylotypes), were considered as part of the pulmonary mycobiome of patients. Two phyla were identified: Basidiomycota (33.3%) and Ascomycota (54.2%). Regarding the Basidiomycota phylum, reads were classified in three classes (Agaricomycetes, Tremellomycetes and Walleomycetes), while for the Ascomycota phylum four different taxonomical classes were identified: Pneumocystidomycetes, Dothideomycetes, Eurotiomycetes and Saccharomycetes, with the latter being the most frequent class. Twelve fungal genera were identified, being Candida the most frequently detected. The median number of fungal genera detected in patients’ pulmonary mycobiome was six (ranging from two up to nine). The genus Papilotrema and the potentially pathogenic genera Cryptococcus and Pneumocystis were exclusively found in the pulmonary mycobiome of HIV+ + patients. Other potentially pathogenic fungi such as Aspergillus spp., Trichosporon spp., Saccharomyces spp. and Schizophyllum spp. were also detected. Conclusion: This pilot study illustrates how the pulmonary mycobiome is rich and highly variable in patients with fungal infections. The obtained results suggest that the described metagenomic analysis may possess a great ability to quickly and effectively detect potentially pathogenic fungi in the mycobiome of patients, making it a promising future diagnostic tool. Thus, further optimization, standardization and clinical validation of these NGS methodologies should be warranted in the future.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Liquid-crystal patterns of rectangular particles in a square nanocavity

Using density-functional theory in the restricted-orientation approximation, we analyse the liquid-crystal patterns and phase behaviour of a fluid of hard rectangular particles confined in a two-dimensional square nanocavity of side length $H$ composed of hard inner walls. Patterning in the cavity is governed by surface-induced order, capillary and frustration effects, and depends on the relative values of particle aspect ratio $\kappa\equiv L/\sigma$, with $L$ the length and $\sigma$ the width of the rectangles ($L\ge\sigma$), and cavity size $H$. Ordering may be very different from bulk ($H\to\infty$) behaviour when $H$ is a few times the particle length $L$ (nanocavity). Bulk and confinement properties are obtained for the cases $\kappa=1$, 3 and 6. In the confined fluid surface-induced frustration leads to four-fold symmetry breaking in all phases (which become two-fold symmetric). Since no director distorsion can arise in our model by construction, frustration in the director orientation is relaxed by the creation of domain walls (where the director changes by $90^{\circ}$); this configuration is necessary to stabilise periodic phases. For $\kappa=1$ the crystal becomes stable with commensuration transitions taking place as $H$ is varied. In the case $\kappa=3$ the commensuration transitions involve columnar phases with different number of columns. Finally, in the case $\kappa=6$, the high-density region of the phase diagram is dominated by commensuration transitions between smectic structures; at lower densities there is a symmetry-breaking isotropic $\to$ nematic transition exhibiting non-monotonic behaviour with cavity size.Comment: 31 pages, 15 figure

Improving the estimation of fire danger, fire propagation and fire monitoring : new insights using remote sensing data and statistical methods

This thesis covers three major topics related to wildfires, remote sensing and meteorology: (i) quantifying and forecasting fire danger combining numerical weather forecasts and satellite observations of fire intensity; (ii) mapping burned areas from satellite observations with multiple spatial and spectral resolution; and (iii) modelling fire progression taking into account weather conditions and fuel (vegetation) availability. Regarding the first topic, an enhanced Fire Weather Index (FWI) is proposed by using statistical methods to combine the classical FWI with an atmospheric instability index with the aim of better forecasting the fire danger conditions favourable to the development of convective fires. Furthermore, the daily definition of the classical FWI was extended to an hourly timescale, allowing for assessment of the variability of the fire danger conditions throughout the day. For the second topic, a method is proposed to map and date burned areas using sequences of daily satellite data. This method, tested over several regions around the globe, provide burned area maps that outperform other existing methods for the task, particularly regarding the consistency and accuracy of the date of burning. Furthermore, a method is proposed for fast assessment of burned areas using 10-meter resolution satellite data and making use of Google Earth Engine (GEE) as a tool for preprocessing and downloading of data that is then used as input to a deep learning model that combines a coarse burned area map with the medium resolution data to provide a refined burned area map with 10-meter resolution at event level and with low computational requirements. Finally, for the third topic, a method is proposed to estimate the fire progression over a 12-hour period with resource to an ensemble of models trained based on the reconstruction of past events. Overall, I am confident that the results obtained and presented in this thesis provide a significant contribution to the remote sensing and wildfires scientific community while opening interesting paths for future research on the topics described

Developing a gamification system to increase customer lifetime value at MyGon

There have never been so many touch points between companies and consumers as there are today, which paradoxically makes it very challenging for companies to be able to retain and engage customers. Gamification is a strategy used by a large number of companies to increase customer engagement and customer lifetime value. This work aims at developing a gamification system for MyGon, a Portuguese startup working in the market of discounts and experiences. In addition to examining the literature concerning gamification, its elements and characteristics, recommendations were developed for addressing MyGon’s business goals of increasing conversion and customer engagement. The gamification mechanisms suggested include badges, missions, points, leaderboards and levels

eABC: scientific publications bibliografic archive

The paper intends to present eABC – Scientific Publications Bibliographic Archive of University of Aveiro’. It describes the motivation that induced its implementation, advantages for users and for all those whom the system serves. Some of the systems functionalities will be presented, along with a description on how to use them. Finally, the current status of the system - as it is being used by the University of Aveiro - will be presented, with the addition of an explanation on how this system helps in the creation of mechanisms that enable the adaptability and flexibility of systems to improve the scientific community dynamics

Consulting project for Câmara Municipal de Cascais with the topic “should Câmara Municipal de Cascais introduce a local currency in order to develop the local economy and sustainability?”

The project’s focus is a potential introduction of a local currency to develop the local economy and sustainability. Bearing in mind the project’s focus, several analyses were conducted focusing both the internal aspects and external aspects. It was also performed a study on local currencies and crypto currencies, supported by renowned economist and experts on the matter; on loyalty programs and Apps developed by private firms and on technological solutions. these studies and analyses were complemented by the analysis of a survey and in-depth interviews to both citizens and local businesses. Several recommendations were designed and provided to answer the over riding question

Understanding what leads to a start-up failure by creating an S/F prediction model for the Portuguese companies

Nowadays, the amount of companies' creation has been progressively increasing year by year but, that does not necessarily mean they are being developed in the way they should to reach their goals. The start-up tech industry and all the external factors that influence them have changed over time but, there are still some improvements to do regarding some of the internal factors that influence and might contribute to the early-stage company failure. Since the Portuguese State created programs that backup monetarily some of these companies, sometimes they do not have enough knowledge nor reliable feedback of their market to launch a start-up, consequently having a negative economic and social impact on the country. Being aware of this subject, this study decided to analyse all the topics that would influence these types of companies starting by doing a literature review, critical for the whole development of the dissertation because of the substantiation it gives to it. Thus, some topics were searched to understand how those variables could be relatable to the success or failure of a start-up. The methodology involved in this study is essentially an analysis of the Portuguese start-ups by inquiring their founders through a questionnaire, both for those who failed and those o succeed, about their experiences in the company. Subsequently, it was made a comparison between the two of them with the aim to understand and infer some conclusions about the variables that influence the most this problematic by creating a prediction model.A indústria das Start-up tecnológicas e todos os fatores externos que a influenciam têm vindo a alterar ao longo do tempo, mas, ainda há aspetos a melhorar sobretudo ao nível interno das empresas, sendo esses fatores muitas das vezes as principais causas da falha de uma firma numa fase inicial. O Estado Português tem criado programas direcionados para apoiar financeiramente as Start-ups, no entanto, para além desse apoio, as empresas por vezes não possuem o conhecimento ou realizaram um estudo de mercado insuficiente a fim de conseguir utilizadores para o seu produto/serviço, acabando por ter um impacto negativo ao nível económico e social no nosso país. Portanto, este estudo decidiu começar por analisar alguns dos tópicos que acabam por influenciar este tipo de empresas através de uma revisão de literatura, sendo que é importante para todo o desenvolvimento desta dissertação devido ao suporte teórico que lhe dá. Após isso, problemas como as caraterísticas dos fundadores das start-ups e outros fatores externos, como por exemplo o financiamento, foram pesquisados a fim de perceber como estes podem estar relacionados com o sucesso ou insucesso de uma microcompanhia. A metodologia envolvida neste estudo é essencialmente constituída por uma análise através de um questionário feito aos fundadores das empresas, quer tenham tido sucesso ou não. Consequentemente, foi feita uma comparação entre os dois tipos de informação recolhida e, tentar perceber de que forma existe uma correlação entre as variáveis abordadas a fim de retirar conclusões e criar um modelo de previsão